November 9th – 16th, 2014
RTÉ weather presenter Evelyn Cusack was the special guest at IT Sligo on Tuesday as part of Science Week 2014.
Deputy Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann but better known for her role as a weather presenter on RTÉ, Evelyn gave a special lunchtime lecture entitled “Ireland’s weather: a journey through time”. It also featured details of the latest high spec methods used by the European Centre for Medium Range Forecasting.
Evelyn’s primary professional role is in communicating the expected weather to the Irish public, and that includes providing timely warnings of severe weather in order to help save lives and property both on land and at sea.
Evelyn’s talk took her audience through the climate ages. “From the very first atmosphere over four billion years ago when there was no oxygen, I wanted to show how lucky we are to exist at all on this unique planet and, in particular, what a benign climate we have in Ireland,” she said.
Another headline speaker in the lecture series was Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis who gave a midweek Wednesday dealt on “Accident, Suicide or Homicide”. Other lectures during the seven days of Science Week have included topics as diverse as seabed mapping, bird protection and Botox.
The aim of Science Week is to promote the relevance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in our everyday lives and to demonstrate their importance to the future development of Irish society and to the economy. Science Week is coordinated by SFI Discover, the education outreach programme of Science Foundation Ireland.
Dr Jerry Bird, Head of IT Sligo’s School of Science, said: “Science Week is always a great success and thanks to the voluntary efforts of our staff and students I’m sure it will excel again this year. It’s a wonderful opportunity for young people to experience up close the marvels of science. We always hope, too, that it will put many of them on the path to a career in Science, which is an area in which so many of our regional companies require graduates.
This year’s theme for National Science Week, sponsored by Science Foundation Ireland, is “The Power of Science”.
Sunday’s Family Open Day saw visitors stream through the Institute’s doors from 12 noon to 5pm to take part in fun displays that illustrated the immense power of science in our day to day lives, for example in areas such as electricity, gravity, flight, waves, conservation and recycling.
National Science Week, which features events across the country, is Ireland’s largest annual promotion of science to the general public.
The remaining lecture series schedule is:
Thursday 13th November 7.30pm Infomar: Mapping our Marine to Manage Our Future –Thomas Furey, Joint Infomar Programme Manager, Marine Institute
Friday 14th November 7.30pm The Reintroduction of Birds of Prey in Ireland – Lorcan O’Toole, Golden Eagle Trust and BirdWatch Ireland.
Pictures from Sunday’s Family Open Day at IT Sligo.